Dually adjustable back and bed chair



Aug. 22, 1961 l. C. POSKlN DUALLY ADJUSTABLE BACK AND BED CHAIR Filed Oct. 20, 1959 3 W-mmiiihiw INVENTOR.

United States Pa I entf ice 2,997,340 DUALLY ADJUSTABLE BACK AND BED CHAIR Irvin C. Poskin, 1828 S. Robertson Blvd.,

Los Angeles 35, Calif. Filed Oct. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 847,620 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-361) This invention relates to dually adjustable back and bed chairs, being an improvement upon the Combination Adjustable Back and Bed Chairs described and claimed in Patent No. 2,515,261, issued to me July 18, 1950.

More specifically, the present invention relates to improving said patented construction by providing a simplified electrical and a non-electrical means for releasing the chair back holding means, so that the chair may be readily adjusted manually even when electric current is not available to render usable the more easily operable electric adjusting means, both of said chair back releasing means being operatively connected with a single manually turnable rod.

The chair adjusting means provided by this invention comprises both an electrical and a non-electrical portion, the electrical portion necessarily including an operating connection which flexes when the non-electrical portion is used, so as not to interfere therewith.

The present invention is embodied in an improved combination of chair back, releasable locking means and spring loaded means tending to swing the chair back toward its upstanding position, so that an invalid'seated in the chair, may safely lean back therein without danger of experiencing a shock resulting from a sudden, unopposed downswing of the chair back; and also may, while seated in the chair, exercise advantageously by swinging his body forwardly and rearwardly while his back is gently opposed by the chair back.

The invention includes an improved spring loaded means for swinging the chair back forwardly when the locking means is released.

' Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, illustrative of a preferred, reduced-to-practice embodiment of the invention, I

FIG. 1 is a perspective side and rear view of the device adjusted to form a chair only, part of the structure being broken away below and at one side to contract the view. The fabric covering is omitted to disclose underlying mechanism, a fragment of the chair back cushion being included in the view.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the plane indicated by line 2-2 on FIG. 1, the scale being larger than in FIG. 1, and one of the operative positions of one of the members being shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the device, a part of the structure being broken away to disclose underlying structure, and a portion of the electric conductor being broken out so as to foreshorten it. The bottom and back cushions of the chair are included in this view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing separately the upstanding operating shaft.

Referring in detail to the drawing, and patterning the description somewhat after the language of the aforesaid patent upon which this invention is an improvement, the arm chair shown comprises a chair frame with an upholstered seat portion 11, an upholstered back portion 11a and paired arms 12 between which is swingably mounted the adjustable back 13.

The adjustable chair back structure comprises a swingable frame made up of an upper crosspiece 14, side pieces 15, and a lower crosspiece structure 16 having forwardly offset end portions 17 with which cooperate the pivot bolts 18 that are connected to the chair arms 12.

2,997,340 Patented Aug. 22, 1961 Adjacent to each lower corner the chair back structure 13 has a rearward extension 20 consisting of a block bolted or otherwise secured in place. Said blocks are each horizontally bored through to provide for having slidably fitted within them the locking bolts 22 and their stems 23. Said bolts are axially secured to said stems 23, which are of lesser diameters than the bolts so as to provide space to have fitted around the stems and back of the bolts coil springs 27 which tend to move each bolt to locked position. Each of said stems 23 terminates in a rounded head 25. Each bolt 22 cooperates with a series of shouldered locking recesses 28 in an arcuate bracket 29 attached to the adjacent part of the arm rest at its side of the chair.

Simultaneous retraction of the twin locking bolts 22 is effected by means of a pair of tensioned flexible means 31, 31a, having outer ends secured to the heads 25 and inner ends secured to the opposite ends of a common op erating lever 32 which, at its midlength portion is secured to an operating shaft 33 at a point upwardly spaced from the power end of said shaft. Said tensioned flexible means 31, 31a, each is of an elongated character, the tensioned means 31 comprising an inner chain 31b and an outer chain 310, these chains being united by a turnbuckle 31x; and the other tensioned means 31a comprising an inner chain 310! and an outer chain 31c, these two chains being united by a turnbuckle 31y, said turnbuckles being usable in the well known manner.

Aforesaid operating shaft 33 (see FIG. 4), extends through a lower bearing strip 34 and an upper bearing strip 35 carried by the chair back, and above the latter strip said shaft carries a rightangularly directed operating handle 36. Said handle closely underlies and is concealed by a back cover member (not shown), so that the user of the chair while seated thereon, can release the locking bolts by reaching his hand over the back of the chair and applying pressure to said handle.

Aforesaid bearing strip 34 has a bracket plate 39 secured pendantly to its back side, said plate having in its side portion a supporting notch 40 with a horizontal lower side portion which supports aforesaid lever 32 during its swinging movements, thus preventing the lever and its operating means from dropping down from the proper operative position.

The manual means for operating the tiltable chair back, constituting one phase of the dual operation, having been described, the second phase of the dual operation, the elec-- trical means of operation, will now be set forth. However, the description of that portion of the mechanism which is common to both the manual and the electrical means for operating the chair back need not be repeated.

The shaft 33 is the element common to the dual means 'of operation. It operates the bolt releasing mechanism 22 when partially turned in a counter-clockwise direction by the handle 36 or by the electrical mechanism next to be described connected to the same shaft and operating the bolt releasing mechanism in a similar manner. The manual means for operating the shaft is usable to adjust the chair back when no electricity is present in the power line. Also it is to be noted that there is to be no passive resistance offered by the electrical means of operation, during the manual operating of the bolt releasing mechanism.

Operating shaft 33, as com-pared with aforesaid patented structure, is modified to the extent that its end opposite to its handle 36 is bent at a right angle to the shaft to provide an operating arm or extension 33a to make a connection with the electrical operating means. Said arm is so positioned as to lie in the same vertical plane with and in a downwardly spaced relation to that end portion of the lever 32 which is located thereabove. Said arm 33a normally projects rightangularly from the chair back.

A solenoid 33b is mounted on the crosspiece 16, at the a a sma t opposite end of this connection being fastened to the outer end of arm 33a. Current to operate said. solenoid is supplied thereto through a conductor 50 furnished with a plug-in attachment 51. The flow of current to said solenoid is controlled by operating a button 52 subjacent to one of the chair arms, where it can be. conveniently contacted by a person occupying the chair, said button controlling current fiow through a conductor 53. The flex.- ible connection 33d permits manual turning of rod 33 While the solenoid remains inactive.

As shown at one side of the chair in FIGS. 1 and 3 (this structure being duplicated at the opposite side of the chair), a chair back tensioning means is provided comprising a coiled spring 55 one end of which is anchored to an angular bracket 56 secured to the chair frame. The opposite end of this spring is secured to a turnbuckle 57 which, in turn, is connected to a wire cable 58 leading from and secured to a side piece 59 of the swingable chair back.

In order to provide for successful and dependable operation of the chair back tensioning means a sheathed pulley 60 at each side of the chair is attached to a chair frame member 61 located beneath the arm rest portion of the chair and spanning the distance, at its side of the chair, between the arm rest and a cross member 62, of the chair frame. The function of each said pulley is partly to support the cable 58 which passes thereover, and to keep the portion of the cable in advance thereof extending approximately horizontally during the up and down swing of the chair back, and at times to cause downward deflection of the portion of the cable that is attached to the chair back, thus producing a more efficient operation.

The turnbuckles 57 are usable properly to regulate the chair back tensioning means so that the chair back can be easily adjusted to the various desired positions. It will, therefore, be seen that each spring 55, with which a cable is loaded, is located in the front run of the cable, that is to say, in the run which extends forwardly from the pulley at its side of the chair, said run having its front end secured to the front part of the chair frame.

It will be seen that, in addition to the chair back adjusting means provided for by my prior patented struc ture, the present invention enables the operator, while sitting in the chair, to electrically release the chair back locking means, and while so released provide for swing,- ing his back forwardly and rearwardly as if occupying a rockingchair.

When it is desired to place the chair back in a more inclined position than that shown in the figures, the person sitting in the chair reaches his hand over his shoulder and presses forwardly upon the handle 36 underlying the fabric; or else presses the switch button 52 to close the electric circuit to energize the solenoid 33b. Either operation retracts the locking bolts 22 from the locking recesses 28 with which they engage. Thereupon the pressure of the individuals back against the chair back causes it to swing downwardly a selected distance, whereupon removing manual pressure in either instance permits the locking bolts to be urged outwardly by their springs to the locking position. In both the aforesaid instances the downward movement of the chair back is opposed by the springs 55 so that no sudden, injurious dropping of the chair back can occur.

At such times as the locking bolts are released the tensioning means 55 provides sufficient opposition to the rearward movement of the chair back to enable the occupant. of the chair to swing his torso forwardly and rear.-

4 wardly, simulating a rocking movement and affording him a wholesome exercise.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which come within the scope of the subject matter claimed.

1' claim:

1. In a chair structure of the kind described, a chair frame, a chair. back having a lower end portion pivoted to said chair frame. so that said chair back is swingable between an upstanding and a substantially horizontal position, releasable. locking means for said chair back, said locking means including locking bolts and bolt operating rods and. springs all mounted upon the normally lower portion of said chair. back and. a ratchet carried by each side portion of the chair frame to cooperate with said bolts, said ratchet having teeth upwardly over which said bolts may glide against the opposition of said springs, a common operating; means for said rods simultaneously to apply traction to them. to release said bolts, said operating. means for said. rods comprising a lever one end of which is pivoted to one of said rods and the other end of which is pivoted to the other of said rods, a manually turnable shaft carried by and extending lengthwise of the chair back, saidv shaft, in. an upwardly spaced relation to its lower end having, secured to it the midlength portion of said. lever, said. shaft at; its lower end being bent rightangularly, thus forming an arm which projects rearwardly from said shaft, acord-like, flexible connection secured at one end. to saidarm, a solenoid having an armature to which. the; other. end of said connection is attached, said flexible connection. permitting manual turning of said shaft. while; said. armature. remains inactive, and current supply means for. said solenoid comprising a switch button carried. by the. chair in convenient reach of a person occupying the chair, whereby, when said button is depressed said solenoidis activated and caused to turn said rod. and thereby release the chair back for downswingiug movement.

2. In a structure. of. the kind described, a chair frame having front and rear portions and comprising substantially parallel side portions which are horizontally spaced apart, pivot. bolts. carried by the lower part of said chair frame, a chair back having its lower end portion pivoted to the chair frame by means of said bolts, an arcuate bracket secured. to. said chair back and having locking shoulders in a row which is concentric to said pivot bolts, a pulley mounted in the. rear portion of the upper part of a said side portion. of said chair frame, a spring loaded flexible cable having a front run extending from said pulley to the front. portion of said chair frame at which point said cable run is attached to said chair frame, said cable being in part supported by said pulley and having a rear run continuous with its aforesaid front run and extending at. a downward inclination from said pulley and connected. with said chair back independently of said bracket and at. a point spaced upwardly from the pivotal support of. the chair back so that said spring loaded cable tends at. all times to swing said chair back forwardly, and a. manually releasable bolt carried by said chair frame and cooperating with. said locking shoulders to lock the chair back at various inclinations in opposition to the action of said spring loaded cable. thereon.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, and the spring Wherewith said. cable is. loaded being. located in said front run of the cable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,515,261; Poskin July 18, 1950 2,606,052 Soreng et a1. Aug. 5, 1952 2,891,602 Molins, June 23, 1959 

